Atmospheric Storms

Atmospheric Storms is a low-difficulty gas giant anomaly, making it a reasonable one for newer players to investigate early — the risk is contained to a single follow-up choice rather than the investigation itself.

The guaranteed part

Investigating always grants a +3 Physics research deposit on the gas giant — a solid, no-strings outcome on its own.

The risky choice

After that, you’re offered a bigger research deposit (+7 Physics instead of +3) — but taking it kills the scientist who investigated. The alternative is safer: the scientist survives and gains the Expertise: Field Manipulation trait instead.

How to decide

If the scientist involved has valuable traits you don’t want to lose, take the safe option and bank the trait gain. If it’s an early-game scientist you’re not attached to and you want to maximize research output on this specific gas giant, the bigger deposit can be worth the trade — but know going in that it’s a one-way choice.

(Editorial note: an earlier version of this site had a wiki entry for a fabricated anomaly called “Mysterious Tempest.” This entry replaces it with a real, verified anomaly with the same general theme — see this project’s fact-check log for details.)